At a glance

Your chance to

At a glance

4 nights hotel

3 and a half days sightseeing

Glaciers, geysers and waterfalls

Wonderful photographic opportunities

Family departures available

See Iceland's best sights in one weekend

The ephemeral Northern Lights or ‘Aurora Borealis’ have fascinated those lucky enough to see them for centuries. During this tour we offer visits to some of the most impressive sights in the south of the island, including the Glacial Lagoon, Thingvellir N.P and a number of mighty waterfalls that make up what is often referred to as the 'Golden Circle'. Underpinning the experience will be our efforts to seek out the world’s best natural light show, monitoring the forecast to ensure we head out at the best time.

Itinerary

Show detailed itinerary

1Day 1Our trip begins at our Reykjavik hotel at 1900 for the first group briefing.

2Day 2Drive along the south coast stopping at Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss waterfalls and Reynisfjara volcanic beach; evening Northern Lights excursion (available on two nights).

Today we drive east, and make our first stop at Seljalandsfoss Waterfall, 60m high waterfall offering a unique experience, as visitors can walk behind the falling water. We then continue further east and drive the short stretch which got badly hit by ash fall in the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajokull. We make a short stop at the Eyjafjallajokull visitor centre, set up and owned by one of the local farmers. Here we learn about the life of the locals during the eruption and see a short film on the eruption. Another 10 minutes’ drive takes us to the impressive 60m high and 25m wide Skogarfoss Waterfall. We take a lunch stop at the nearby Skogar Museum and get to see the old way of life in this interesting museum of artefacts and reconstructed sod houses. Our next stop is the famous Reynisfjara black beach with its beautifully shaped columnar basalt and small caves. We get a really good view of the Reynisdrangar sea stacks from this beach – which we will also see when we get to the small village Vik, which sits right on the 350km long black beach and is the only town on the south coast without a harbour. From Vik we drive across the Myrdalssandur floodplains, created by several glacial rivers running down from the Myrdalsjokull Glacier and the huge floods that happen when the Katla volcano erupts. After Myrdalsjokull floodplains it is only a short drive to our comfortable accommodation at Hotel Laki located close to the small village of Kirkjubaejarklaustur.

3Day 3Drive across Skeidararsandur floodplains to Skaftafell for stop and visit; on to Svinafellsjokull outlet glacier for easy glacier walk. Drive to Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon.

We set out across the massive Skeidararsandur floodplains. This area has seen some dramatic natural power, most notably a flood wave caused by a sub glacial eruption in 1996 sent almost 3,5 cubic kilometres of water rushing down the floodplain, wiping out the roads and bridges. Our first stop after the floodplains is the visitors centre in Skaftafell, previously Skaftafell N.P but now a part of the Vatnajokull NP – covering about 10% of Iceland’s surface. From Skaftafell we head to Svinafellsjokull outlet glacier where we go for a short glacier walk with crampons and ice axes. The glacier offers some fantastic photo opportunities. We explore the glacier tongue and its ice sculptures and beautiful ice formations. This walk is designed to be non challenging and suitable for those with no previous experience, crampons are needed for grip on the ice, however thre is no climbing or abseiling required.
The condition of the ice varies a lot and the crystal blue ice here is actually over one thousand years old. It gets its colour from the lack of oxygen in the ice, which compresses it. Occasionally rainfall can wash away the debris to leave the glacier sparkling blue.
We then visit the beautiful Jokulsarlon Glacial Lagoon, created around 1950 as the glacier retreated from the coast, leaving a body of water 300m deep and covering an area of 20 square kilometres. The banks of the lagoon show where the glacier's edge used to be, just 1.5km from the ocean. We also go down to the beach where we often find large chunks of blue ice washed up on the black volcanic sand. There are some wonderful photographic opportunities here as we enjoy a winter Icelandic sunset over the floating icebergs. For many of the trips we will experience the early sunset on the beach below the lagoon, offering us some fantastic photo opportunities with the ice on the beach. At the end of the day we have about 1 ½ hours’ drive back to the hotel (125 km).See more images and videos

4Day 4Drive along the south coast passing Eyjafjallajokull Volcano; visit Gullfoss Waterfall, spouts at Geysir and World Heritage Site of Thingvellir N.P.; on to Reykjavik.

We make our way along the south scenic south coast passing the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano and taking in some of the most impressive sights in this part of Iceland. We visit Thingvellir World Heritage area, where the world's first 'democratic parliament' meeting took place - the area became Iceland's first National Park in 1928 and a World Heritage area in 2004. The par sits on a major fault line and the area is littered with waterfalls and immense fissures as well as the largest lake in the country.
Our next stop is Geysir. The most reliable eruption comes every 5-10 minutes 'Strokkur'; the 30-metre jet of water and steam is spectacular and not to be missed. To round off the day we drive a short distance on to Gullfoss, a huge dramatic waterfall located in a 70m deep canyon of River Hvita (White River). Our day ends with our return to Reykjavik.

We visit the Leidarendi lava tube cave. The cave is a great example of lava tubes with many fascinating lava formations. The flow of the lava can be easily seen in many places inside the cave and lava formations such as small stalagmites and stalactites are around. The cave is easily navigated and in winter the cave is often filled with glistening icicles of all shapes and sizes, creating an amazing world of ice. After caving we head for the Blue Lagoon and soak in the thermal baths before our flight back.See more images and videos

Your images

Adult Group

This is a small group adult holiday. The group is usually between 4 and 16 in size, with an average of 12 like-minded clients booking individually, in a couple or as friends together.

Activity level

You are reasonably fit, enjoy the outdoors and are looking for some exercise. Some previous experience is preferable for activity based trips.

What's included

What's included

All breakfasts, 4 lunches and 2 dinners

All accommodation (see below)

All transport and listed activities

Tour leader throughout

Flights from London (if booking incl. flights)

What's not included

Travel insurance

Single accommodation (available on request)

Visas or vaccinations

Accommodation details

Hotels Klettur & Laki

We start off in Reykjavik, where we usually stay at the Hotel Klettur offering comfortable rooms with private facilities, approximately 20 minutes' walk from the centre of the city and a short walk from the downtown and harrbour areas.
Please note we occasionally use the Hotel Cabin when availability requires. The Hotel Cabin is approximately 800m further from the city centre and is of the same standard.

We then transfer to the family-run Hotel Laki, a great location to see Iceland's rugged landscape, with pseudo craters dotting the view on the edge of the hotel's land.

Single accommodation is available throughout the tour, from £110.

Essential info

Vaccinations and Visa
No visa required for British passport holders.
There are no specific health risks. Holiday style

3 and a half days sightseeing, with visits to and exploration of areas of natural beauty. On two evenings we will attempt to see the Northern Lights, choosing location and times based on the latest information to give us the best chance of seeing them. Snowshoeing and glacier walking with ice axes and crampons are possible but optional. To make the most of this holiday you do not need previous experience but a reasonable level of fitness is recommended.
There are a few long drives to make the most of our stay
All active winter holidays involve some element of risk; from something as simple as slipping on icy pavements, to the possibility of injuries sustained as a result of the activities themselves. While we do all we can to minimize any dangers, participants must be prepared to accept some risk as part of the holiday.

New Family Departures: This trip has special departures reserved exclusively for parents travelling with children (min. age 12). Please refer to our brochure or web dates below for more information about the available dates. These family departures will run with the same itinerary and inclusions of our standard adult departures.

Eating & drinking

All breakfasts, 4 lunches and 2 dinners are included.
In restaurants you will find a mixture of Icelandic food, such as lamb, fish and chicken, and international cuisine in some.

Trip notes

Download the detailed trip notes for everything you could possibly want to know about this trip, including
detailed itinerary and full kit list

Weather & seasonality

The country has a notoriously fickle climate, and on any day of the winter you may experience periods of sunshine alternating with short or long showers of snow, sleet or even rain. Away from the coast, in most winters, there is good snow cover for much of the season. Average daytime temperatures in Reykjavik are between 0 and -5degC. In the interior it can be several degrees colder, and in windy weather, which is common in the wind-chill factor can be significant.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

This trip was a fantastic and fun adventure from start to finish. I had no idea what to expect from the trip and was not used to cold weather climates but the unpredictable changes in the weather just added to the excitement. The itinerary was packed full of amazing sights including beautiful waterfalls, thermal geysirs, an iceberg lagoon, black sandy beaches, a swim in the blue lagoon and so much more. We also got looked after well each and every day, and where the planned schedule had to be adapted due to severe weather conditions, I still had an amazing time.

What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?

There were too many on this trip! But some of the best moments were relaxing in a hot tub with a waterfall as your backdrop, walking up to see a glacier, the iceberg lagoon and swimming in the blue lagoon with snowflakes falling on your face and sipping a drink from the swim up bar on the side of the lagoon.

What did you think of your group leader?

I really liked the group leader, David Kelley. He was very thoughtful and wanted us to have a great time, and he felt personally responsible that we didn't see the northern lights even though that was down to the severe weather conditions we had. He also had a wicked sense of humour (British, sarcasm) which made me laugh all trip. And he cut up cake in the snow with a plastic knife and fed us. What was also fab was his immense passion for Iceland and what he was sharing with us which was apparent throughout.

Do you have any advice for potential travellers?

Key advice is to make sure you have the right clothing for the trip, the weather is really very unpredictable. So definitely take waterproof trousers and a balaclava, woollen mittens and a hat that covers up your ears and will stay on in a blizzard. Also a waterproof bag and waterproof case for your camera.

It can be sunny one minute, then hail can smack you across the face the next, and then it's snowing!

Embrace the unpredictability of the trip and don't be disappointed if things don't go according to the itinerary.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Excellent trip with a lot packed in to such a short time. You get to see much more than if you had just booked a trip to stay in Reyjavik. One of the most beautiful Countries I've ever been to.

What was the most inspirational moment of your trip?

Seeing the Northern Lights, seeing the seals playing in the lagoon and ice walking on the Glacier. Beautiful! (Couldn't narrow it down to just one!)

What did you think of your group leader?

Excellent. David is from England but has lived in Iceland for 10 years. He knew everything there was to know about Iceland and coupled it with a British sense of humour! He was keen to make the experience as great as possible for everyone whilst being safety conscious at the same time (you can't influence the weather!) True professional!

Do you have any advice for potential travellers?

Take lots of layers as the weather is changeable. My head was lovely and snug, however one pair of gloves did not keep my hands warm when taking photos!
Take a tripod for Northern Lights photos.

Having lived abroad as a child, Tom has always been interested in travelling, visiting new places and trying new sports and activities. Each trip and each destination has something to offer, be it the scenery, culture, the activity itself or all of these combined. The travel industry has been a great place to indulge his passion and he counts himself lucky enough to have gone on some fantastic trips in a personal and professional capacity. Though now settled in sunny suburbia his enthusiasm for discovery is as strong as ever.

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